Sir Simon Rattle and the Vienna Philharmonic in Birmingham, London & Lucerne

Sir Simon Rattle returns to Birmingham with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for a celebration of Edward Elgar’s supreme choral masterpiece, ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ at Symphony Hall, where the orchestra will be joined by mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and tenor Toby Spence, as well as the BBC Proms Youth Choir.

After Birmingham, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will return to the BBC Proms as part of their Askonas Holt tour for two concerts: a programme of Brahms and Schmidt conducted by Semyon Bychkov – who has long been a champion of Schmidt’s little known Symphony No. 2 – and ‘The Dream of Gerontius’, which they will present to London audiences on the penultimate night of the 2015 Proms season.

The tour of Gerontius continues in Lucerne with a performance to a sold-out house.